Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Carnival Fun!

Note: this post was written on May 20.

Baby's schedule was unusually late yesterday, and in celebration of him not having to be in bed at 7, I wanted to go out to dinner. It's so much fun to be able to go out without worrying that Baby's up past his bedtime, or that he may have a meltdown. So into the car we piled, and for once, the destination was my choice. On the way, though, Husband all of a sudden said, I know where we're going! Dread filled me. Great. I guess I should explain. My husband is the King of Buffets. He always wants to get the most food for his money, and if he can have a sampling of a variety of foods, he's most happy, so I wasn't too excited to hear where he wanted to take us. But I was in for a pleasant surprise! The St. Boniface Feast by the Shore opened last night.We ate hamburgers, the kids had hot dogs, and we bought them all inclusive bracelets, so they got unlimited rides. It was great! We were completely unprepared - no stroller for Baby, no sweaters for the approaching evening cool, and most importantly, no camera. After dinner, I drove home and collected sweatshirts, the stroller, and of course, the camera. The kids ran from ride to ride. Amazingly, they even rode the ferris wheel by themselves without tears! Admittedly, it was a little hard to watch Son lagging behind because he doesn't run as fast, and it was tough watching him sit by himself on the rides, because Daughter and their friend got on the rides first and found seats next to each other. I know it wasn't done intentionally, and I look at this way. He is old enough to sit by himself, and he was excited about it. And it is such a fortunate thing to watch him participating. He was running, he was laughing, he was having a great time!
Running to the next best thing :)

Teacup Ride!

Airplane Ride


But I also see it as an opportunity for me to teach Daughter that she always has to watch out for her older brother. On a daily basis she totally knows that, but when she's as excited as he is, it's understandable for her to forget. Not to mention that she's only four years old, and what four year old is so empathetic as to be aware in those excitable moments?
Anyway, another interesting observation, besides all the fun we had, were the volunteers of the festival that came to talk with us. It was Thursday night, the volunteers were still fresh, and it was pretty quiet at the carnival, but I believe that Son brought the attention. People just gravitate to him. He makes people smile, and that is a wonderful thing to see.